Portfolio: shows some slight signs of wear, the cover imprint however is clean and clear.

Content: the title page is clean, the margins of the helio-engraved photographs are foxed, the leaves 40 to 50 and the sultans page show some light signs of dampness in the margins. The helio-engraved photographs are clear.

The portfolio contains 64 leaves(35 x 45 cm.) with helio-engraved photographs in different sizes made by J.B. Obernetter, München after photographs made by Kleingrothe, numbered 1 to 64. Some leaves containn more than one helio-engraved photograph(imprint 22 x 31cm. / size 19 x 28 cm.). The text below the helio-engraved photographs is in English, Dutch and German.

There are diffent formats of this publication, one where the cover helio-engraved photograph depict a tiger caught in a trap. The number of leaves also diverge; the copies in most museum libraries however contain also 64 leaves.

Condition:

The portfolio: shows signs of wear, the lettered imprint on the cover has nearly faded away, the cover helio-engraved photograph shows wear. The portfolio hing points are weared out.

Content: contrary to the wear of the portfolio are the helio-engraved photographs and the title page in good condition. Leaves 52 to 58 have a very small hole. Here and there is sign of very slight foxing in the margins. The helio-engraved photographs are amazingly clear.

“This impressive volume presents a selection of works by German commercial photographer Charles J. Kleingrothe, who was active in the Malay Archipelago during the early 1900s. His large-format photographs are one of the key visual records of Malaya at a time of great transformation, and record life and landscapes in Malaya at the dawn of the 20th century. The book is based on the more than 100-year-old portfolio Malay Peninsula (Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States) from the personal collection of HRH Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Sultan of Selangor. It depicts 139 of 170 photographs of that portfolio.

The German Kleingrothe established himself as photographer in Medan, on the east coast of Sumatra, in 1889. After two years, he formed a partnership with H. Stafhell. Stafhell and Kleingrothe mostly photographed portraits.

When this collaboration ended in 1901, Kleingrothe focused on the detailed photography of tropical agriculture. His photographs illustrate the different phases of the tobacco, coffee, tea, rubber and palm oil industries. He illuminated every aspect, from the tilling of the soil to the shipping of the final product. Kleingrothe also photographed the newly constructed bridges and roads, the staff residences and the barracks where the farm labourers were sheltered.In the early twentieth century, Kleingrothe often worked on commission for companies like the Amsterdam- Deli Company, the Senebah Company and the Deli Company. The work entailed the creation of photo albums that were used as a kind of annual reports.

Such commissioned photographs offer a one-sided view of life in the Dutch Indies. They show colonialists as they would like to present themselves: both modern and civilised. The photographs' main focus is on the link between the European presence in Indonesia and the country's progress. This legitimised their presence in the Dutch Indies."